New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is defending his judicial advisory committee after four Jewish bar associations criticized the 18-member panel for having no Jewish members, a controversy that comes amid broader scrutiny of his stance on Israel and Jewish representation in city government.
On July 22, Mamdani announced the full slate of appointees to the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary, a body tasked with evaluating candidates for appointments to the Family Court, Criminal Court, and Civil Court. The committee includes law professors and three former New York State judges, according to the mayor’s office. The announcement quoted Mamdani’s chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, as saying the members “offer a truly representative cross-section of the legal profession in New York City.”
Within days, the Brandeis Association of Queens, the New York County Jewish Lawyers Guild, the Brooklyn Brandeis Society, and the Bronx County Jewish Bar Association issued a letter expressing deep disappointment. The organizations noted that New York is home to the largest Jewish population in the United States, with Jews comprising about one-tenth of city residents and ubiquitous in the legal professions from which the committee recruits its members. “Excluding Jewish representation from this committee is neither reflective nor inclusive,” the letter stated, adding that it “follows a troubling pattern that has left many Jewish New Yorkers feeling increasingly marginalized.”
The Jewish lawyers’ letter specifically cited Mamdani’s “unprecedented rejection” of John Leventhal, a retired judge on the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, as a candidate for the committee. In response, Mamdani’s spokesman Joe Calvello said it was “false” to suggest the selection process was “motivated by religion.” Calvello stated that Mamdani “has had the privilege of appointing a dozen qualified judges from a range of backgrounds, including Jewish judges,” and explained that Leventhal was passed over after the mayor’s team learned he had served on the legal team of Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted accomplice of financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The controversy unfolds against a backdrop of mounting tensions between Mamdani and Jewish leaders over his broader positions. In his first days in office on January 2, Mamdani revoked an executive order that had adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which stigmatizes the denial of Jewish self-determination. The Israeli government accused him of antisemitism for that move. More recently, Mamdani has drawn criticism for omitting Jews from a map of New York’s ethnic enclaves and for his rhetoric calling for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which he later acknowledged he lacked legal authority to execute.
The judicial committee appointment controversy also emerges amid heightened antisemitic violence in New York. The Jewish bar associations’ letter referenced an attack on the Upper West Side in which an assailant stabbed an Orthodox Jew and an Asian man while yelling “Allahu Akbar.” Critics have blamed Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric for contributing to the climate of hostility.
In his January 2 executive order establishing the judicial committee, Mamdani stated that “membership of the Committee shall reflect the cosmopolitan population of the City of New York.” Calvello did not specify whether other Jewish candidates had been considered beyond Leventhal, and he did not directly challenge the allegation that the announced committee excluded Jews altogether.
Sources
- Times of Israel — Jewish legal groups’ letter and Mamdani’s defense via spokesman Calvello; context on Mamdani’s broader stance on Israel and antisemitism definitions.
- Jewish Insider — Mamdani’s statement that the exclusion was not deliberate and that he did not inquire about religious identification of panelists.
- ABC7 New York — Confirmation of the 18-member committee composition and Mamdani’s defense.
- New York Times — Details on the committee’s purpose and Mamdani’s January 2 executive order on committee membership reflecting the city’s population.
- Law.com New York Law Journal — Announcement of the committee’s full membership on July 22, 2026, including law professors and three former judges.
- BBC News — Netanyahu’s criticism of Mamdani and context on his broader stance.
